Johanna Flies to Johannesburg

Sunday, October 16th:

After long night of packing and only two hours of sleep, the entire Depenthal family, plus several friends, got up at the atrocious hour of 4 A.M. to drive me to the airport. The entire troop followed me around like the Seven Stooges all through check-in and up to the security point, where we said several rounds of goodbyes, waved a lot, and then went our separate ways. (Well, they went on their way; I stood in line for another 15 minutes). My flight went to the John F. Kennedy airport in New York went smoothly, and I'm even certain that I spotted Brunswick, Georgia, where we keep the Pilgrim, as we flew along the coast! JFK was a little chancy, as each terminal is separate from the other and I only had an hour and forty-five minute layover: I ended up dragging my suitcase down an unmarked sidewalk alongside an airport road hoping and praying that I was headed in the right direction.

(Brunswick? You can't tell in the picture, but I could see the bridge. We'll get out the charts when I get home.)

When I finally got to terminal 4, I asked a woman where I could find South African Airlines, and was told to go up the stairs and all the way down the building to the right. (Got it.). I went upstairs, and found myself in a dingy airport shuttle station, with an information board that only told you how to get to airlines A-J. I asked two black men who worked at the airport--up the stairs, far end of the hall. I headed in the direction they pointed, and then stopped, confused that I could only see stairs going down. The men had to run after me and point them out; apparently I'm not smart enough to recognize a staircase from the back! The next level was filled with light from the skylights and there were airline check-ins everywhere ("A whole new world..."). From then on, I managed to find my way alright and I got to the gate with time to spare.

For all of you who prayed for a great seatmate for the 14-hour leg from New York to Johannesburg, thank you. I boarded the plane and found that my seat was the second seat in on the central seating next to a very snappily dressed little old black man. He was wearing a bowler hat, and had a voice that sounded exactly like Yoda's (and I should know: I watched Star Wars the night before I left). He seemed nice enough though,and I'm sure the trip would have been fine, but a minute later someone offered to switch seats with me--for a window seat! I couldn't resist, and so I packed up my stuff and clambered over to the window seat, where I met Andrew, who told me lots of fascinating things about South African culture and also let me listen to some great Elvis gospel songs on his fantastic, sound-blocking earphones. (You may not notice the sound of the plane engine all the time, but when you get a break from it, it's very much appreciated. Thanks Andrew!).

Dawn.

Africa, with the moon still in the sky.

I got my first glimpse of Africa, probably Namibia, at about 5:30 A.M. South African time, and we landed early at 7:50 A.M. (which was 1:50 A.M. Florida time). I cleared passport control n' all that, and went to wait at the carousal for my luggage. I stood there with everyone else watching the luggage go around and around until finally everyone left and there wasn't any more luggage to go around... so I went to the desk and filed a lost luggage claim. I met my hosts, Meleney and Leon Kriel, founders of Viva Village and V. Foundation (http://www.viva-sa.co.za/) after only a little more confusion, and we headed off to their meeting at the Emperor's Palace Hotel, one of the nicest hotels in Johannesburg, where I slept on the foyer sofas for two hours like a vagrant and hoped they wouldn't kick me out.

When the meeting was over, the Kriel's picked up some dinner for me (take special note, Dad and Boris: KFCs are everywhere in the world!), and took me to the student house at Hatfield Christian Church. Petra House is lovely, and everyone was immediately very, very welcoming, especially Michelle, who is one of my roommates and showed me around. (She also loaned me a sheet, sleeping bag, clothes to sleep in, and a computer charger cord!). During my second dinner, I had my first taste of pap, a South African staple very much like fine grits, and afterwards I went with the other girls to sing Happy Birthday to another student, took a very welcome shower, wrote quite a bit in my journal and went to bed.

"Petra: The House that Rocks"

(I won't be writing this much about every day, but this explains and introduces quite a bit, so I figured it was necessary.)